# 58,000,000 Americans have voted so far! (10/25) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 25, 2020, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885 "2020-10-25T23:24:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/101 "2020-10-29T21:14:40Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > correct me if I’m wrong, but making mail in voting the default option seems to have higher turnout than in person voting. In general or just this year? Because this isn’t your normal voting year. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/102 "2020-10-29T21:39:07Z")
Because Republicans hate the idea of encouraging people to vote. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/103 "2020-10-29T22:12:58Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > Why not make November 11, already a national holiday, into national voting day? You’d be accused of disrespecting the Veterans, even though that’s part of what they’re supposed to have fought for. As opposed to holding a bedroom furniture sale. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/104 "2020-10-29T22:17:18Z")
The thread title should be updated. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/105 "2020-10-29T22:56:48Z")
Or people could just read the thread.😉 ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/106 "2020-10-30T01:07:03Z")
> **[White Castle will close its restaurants on Election Day for four hours](https://wgntv.com/news/white-castle-will-close-for-4-hours-on-election-day-to-allow-employees-to-vote/)** > > COLUMBUS (WCMH) – Those breakfast sliders may have to wait on Election Day. White Castle said it is closing its restaurants for four hours next Tuesday morning to give employees a chance to vote. R… (NEXSTAR) – White Castle announced Tuesday that it is closing all of its locations for four hours on Election Day to give employees a chance to vote. The restaurants will be closed from 7 to 11 a.m., and employees who are scheduled to work Nov. 3 will get those hours as paid time off." ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/107 "2020-10-30T04:13:16Z")
[https://electproject.github.io/Early-Vote-2020G/index.html](https://electproject.github.io/Early-Vote-2020G/index.html) 29 Oct Total Early Votes: **81,352,960** • In-Person Votes: **28,378,765** • Mail Ballots Returned: **52,974,195** • Mail Ballots Outstanding: **37,402,635** ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/108 "2020-10-30T04:55:52Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I think you might see depressed turnout if you asked people to do anything civic minded on their “day off.” Opening the polls for a period before election day seems to work okay, and 100% mail in voting works perfectly. “National holidays” are also not inherently a day off for most workers, and the people who are most likely to get the obscure technicality holidays off are 9-5 office workers who have the least trouble finding time to vote as it is. I think there was a county somewhere that declared a holiday on election day in one of the recent cycles, and it ended up backfiring because only county government workers got it off…including the transit drivers that some people relied on to get them to the polls. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/109 "2020-10-30T13:47:17Z")
Early voting in Texas has now exceeded the total vote in 2016, with today being the final day for early voting. Just astonishing. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/110 "2020-10-30T13:53:02Z")
[https://electproject.github.io/Early-Vote-2020G/index.html](https://electproject.github.io/Early-Vote-2020G/index.html) Last updated: 10/30/2020 01:47 AM Eastern Time Total Early Votes: **82,042,050** • In-Person Votes: **28,378,765** • Mail Ballots Returned: **53,663,285** • Mail Ballots Outstanding: **36,722,837** ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/111 "2020-10-30T14:08:21Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Early voting in Texas has now exceeded the total vote in 2016, with today being the final day for early voting. Just astonishing. NBC is speculating that early voting in Harris County alone could turn Texas blue. > **[Houston voters are turning out in record numbers. Could they flip Texas for...](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/houston-voters-are-turning-out-record-numbers-could-they-flip-n1245165)** > > Election officials in Harris County tripled the number of early-voting sites, expanded their hours and added drive-thru voting. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/112 "2020-10-30T14:14:18Z")
God, it’s possible that we’re all overlooking the possibility of Texas voting for Biden, probably because none of us dare dream of it happening. If it does, it’s _ovah_. It’s a huge hill to climb but young Democratic voters in Houston and elsewhere are scaling it. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/113 "2020-10-30T17:45:31Z")
Houston is very big, very diverse, and fairly liberal. It could do it. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/114 "2020-10-30T17:46:28Z")
This site apparently updates more than once a day. [https://electproject.github.io/Early-Vote-2020G/index.html](https://electproject.github.io/Early-Vote-2020G/index.html) Last updated: 10/30/2020 11:48 AM Eastern Time Total Early Votes: **84,679,411** • In-Person Votes: **30,081,048** • Mail Ballots Returned: **54,598,363** • Mail Ballots Outstanding: **36,051,423** That’s 2.6 million more early votes than they reported last night. Most of those are in person votes. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/115 "2020-10-30T18:43:50Z")
My town here in Connecticut is opening Town Hall on Saturday morning solely for absentee ballot applications. They will issue absentee ballots on the spot. No dealing with the mail. So far as I know they’ve never done this before on a weekend. I believe you have to be a registered voter, though, and the deadline to register was October 27th. Connecticut does have same-day voter registration, but anyone who wants to do that has to wait until Election Day. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/116 "2020-10-30T19:17:10Z")
Update only 3 hours after the last one. In that time, over 1 million more votes cast, over half of which were mail-in. [https://electproject.github.io/Early-Vote-2020G/index.html](https://electproject.github.io/Early-Vote-2020G/index.html) Last updated: 10/30/2020 02:56 PM Eastern Time Total Early Votes: **85,721,762** • In-Person Votes: **30,518,913** • Mail Ballots Returned: **55,202,849** • Mail Ballots Outstanding: **35,593,853** ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/117 "2020-10-30T19:40:55Z")
The numbers are increasing by the day. SO wonderful to see! ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/118 "2020-10-30T19:45:09Z")
Hopefully this large early turnout will take pressure off of the poll workers and reduce the lines so that everyone who shows up to the polls on Tuesday can easily vote. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/119 "2020-10-30T19:49:23Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > and just a few million short of the number cast for both major-party candidates in 2016. Not quite. Trump got 62,984,828 and Hillary got 65,853,514. > **[2016 United States presidential election | Results](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_United_States_presidential_election#Results)** > > The news media and election experts were surprised at Trump's winning the Electoral College. On the eve of the vote, spread betting firm Spreadex had Clinton at an Electoral College spread of 307–322 against Trump's 216–231. The final polls showed a lead by Clinton and in the end she did receive more votes. Trump himself expected, based on polling, to lose the election, and rented a small hotel ballroom to make a brief concession speech, later remarking: "I said if we're going to lose I According... ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2020, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/120 "2020-10-30T20:07:35Z")
Our NC county has 500k voting out of 800k registered. Total population little over 1 million. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885.md?page=7)